Kale Rice Bowl with Egg and Fried Capers

Healthy meals in a single bowl are perfect for when you want to eat simply, but well and whether they are called a rice bowl, or Buddha bowl or macro or hippie bowl, they usually contain some kind of grain, greens or veggies and toppings for extra flavor. 

The Kale Rice Bowl from Heidi Swanson at 101 Cookbooks is a great example as it contains a base of rice, sauteed kale or another green, poached or fried eggs, a dollop of salted Greek yogurt and (the thing that sold me on this recipe) capers fried and blistered in butter. Yum! There is also a liberal use of spice (in Heidi's case Z a'atar, in mine Ras El Hanout) and toasted seeds. I made a few changes based on what I like and what I had on hand, noted in red below. 

Kale Rice Bowl
Slightly adapted from Heidi Swanson, via 101 Cookbooks
(Serves 2 to 3) 

olive oil and/or clarified butter
1 bunch kale, de-stemmed, chopped thinly or shredded (or other greens of choice)
a pinch of salt
3 cups cooked brown or wild rice 

To Serve:
capers, rinsed, dried & pan-fried until blistered in butter
poached or fried eggs
salted Greek yogurt
olive oil to drizzle
za'atar spice blend or other spice blend of choice (I used Ras El Hanout)
toasted sesame seeds and/or pumpkin seeds
salt & pepper to taste

In a large skillet or pot, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the kale and a couple pinches of salt. Saute until the kale softens a bit and brightens, just a minute or so. Stir in the rice, and cook until the rice is hot. If your rice is on the dry side, you might have to add a small splash of water. (Note: I sauteed the kale first set it aside and used the pan to heat the rice so that I could have them separate in the bowl {I think it's prettier!})

Serve the kale rice topped with (preferably) all of the following: the capers, poached egg, yogurt drizzled with olive oil, and plenty of za'atar.

Notes/Results: This bowl was delicious and satisfying and so full of flavor. I need to remember to salt yogurt and fry capers more often because they totally make the dish. Yum! I also made the choice to fry the egg--I just think it's faster and easier than poaching and since I had leftover toasted pumpkin seeds, I added them to the sesame seeds in the recipe. The recipe called for za'atar but I accidentally grabbed my ras el hanout and it worked well. I think you could use any spice blend that you like and change it up depending on your mood--like using berbere or harissa for a spicier kick, or a favorite curry mix... If you don't like kale, you can use spinach or collards, or chard. This bowl is just a great mix of taste and textures and I would happily make it again.  

You can see the Heidi Swanson Buddha Bowls that the other IHCC participants made by checking out the picture links on the posts.